Organs can talk

Drs. Marie-Josée Hébert and Mélanie Dieudé have discovered a new cell structure responsible for previously unexplained rejections following an organ transplant. They have also identified a drug capable of preventing this type of rejection. Recipients of the Award of Excellence in Research - Science Contribution of 2016 at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUMM), they explain that this discovery could one day revolutionize transplant practice. VIDEO: bit.ly/2n6aEbE

With the collaboration of the Canadian National Transplant Research Program, they continue their research to learn the language of organs.

Drs. Hébert and Dieudé have discovered a new cell structure responsible for previously unexplained rejections following an organ transplant. Before transplanting an organ, physicians check compatibility between the donor and recipient. Despite these precautions, approximately one in ten transplants ends up being rejected by the recipient.

"We have found the mechanism that causes a person to react against components in his own blood vessels even before receiving an organ transplant. We have also identified a drug capable of preventing this type of rejection," says Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert, transplant specialist and CRCHUM researcher. One day, this discovery could revolutionize transplant practice by changing the assessment of rejection risks in heart, lung, kidney or liver transplant recipients.

The article "The 20S proteasome core, active within apoptotic exosome-like vesicles, induces autoantibody production and accelerates rejection" was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on December 16, 2015. The Canadian National Transplant Research Program, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP-15447), the Kidney Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (311598 and 386598) funded this study. Marie-Josée Hébert holds the Shire Chair in Nephrology and Renal Transplantation and Regeneration. For more information, see the study: DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aac9816

About the CRCHUM's Research Awards of Excellence

Awarded yearly since 2012, the CRCHUM's Research Awards of Excellence are honorary awards given to CHUM researchers who make significant contributions to the advancement of health research. The award winners are selected from among the approximately 150 regular researchers within the institution.

About the CRCHUM

The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) is one of the largest hospital-based research centres in North America. Our mission is to improve the health of adults through a continuum of research from basic science, to population health, to clinical research. More than 1,750 people work at the CRCHUM, including 439 researchers and 700 students and research trainees: crchum.chumontreal.qc.ca/en

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